Sea Eagles stars have thrown their support behind captain Daly Cherry-Evans, who will face the judiciary for the first time in his career to try and downgrade a dangerous throw charge.
The champion halfback is seeking a downgrade for a dangerous throw on Parramatta’s Shaun Lane at the judiciary on Tuesday night while Haumole Olakau’atu has taken the early guilty plea for his part in the tackle and will miss two matches.
The Sea Eagles were granted an extension on Monday before making the call on the pair who were both offered two-match bans for early guilty pleas for the grade two charges.
However, the situation has miffed Manly players who believe their captain deserves credit for his clean history.
The 313 game NRL veteran has never copped a suspension, and his lone judicial charge was back in 2018 for a grade one dangerous throw.
“I don’t know if I’m allowed to say this but he definitely should be (given a discount),” said star fullback Tom Trbojevic on Monday.
“If someone comes in and plays their first game and it’s their first offense it’s the same (charge) as someone who has played 313 first grade games, you’d like to think there’s some leniency.
“It’s something to be looked at moving forward.”
Daly Cherry-Evans’ teammates said his clean record should be taken into account at the judiciary. Picture: NRL Photos
Players were previously given a seven-year incident-free discount, but that has been changed to three years for grade one offenses only.
“Maybe even a 50 percent loading or something like that, if you’d played a certain amount of games. For someone who has played for however many games he’s played, he’s had no charges,” Trbojevic said.
The issue was a hot topic at Manly on Monday as they prepare to face Canberra on Friday.
If Cherry-Evans is successful at the judiciary on Tuesday night he’ll cope with a fine and be free to play the Raiders, while Olakau’atu will miss the next two games including a trip to Brisbane in the Magic Round.
Manly is preparing for the worst, regardless of Tuesday night’s result with Jake Arthur on standby in the halves to replace Cherry-Evans.
Anthony Seibold will be sweating on the fitness of Ben Trbojevic given he would be a ready-made replacement for Olakau’atu.
